The State of Colorado Passes Crypto Exemptions Bill into Law

TColorado state governor Jared S. Polis has signed the Colorado Digital token act into law, according to a document published on March 6.

The digital token act which was initially proposed in
January and sponsored at state level by Republican rep Jack Tate as well as Democratic
party rep Steve Fenberg, provides limited exemptions for securities registration
and traders, as well as salesperson licensing requirements for persons dealing
in digital tokens.

The bill that has finally made it into law identifies a “digital
token as a digital unit with specified characteristics, secured through a decentralized
ledger and database, which is exchangeable for goods or services, and are
capable of being traded or transferred between persons without an intermediary
or custodian value”.

The state of Colorado legislators who have actively
discussed, debated, and deliberated on the issue of cryptos, famously voted
down a previous bill that would govern blockchain tokens last May. The bill
defined an “open blockchain token” and exempted certain open blockchain tokens
from being defined as a security.

Some of the members of the private sector were left dejected
with the legislator voting outcome while venture capitalist and blockchain
investor David Gold said;

“This is an opportunity for Colorado to say, ‘Look, we’re
going to provide an environment that provides clarity for the sector. That
doesn’t mean charlatans can violate security laws.’ Those who oppose it simply
don’t understand it.”

In early March, Republican Senator Jack Tate, together with
representatives Jeni James Arndt, and Marc Catlin of the democratic and republican
parties respectively, filed a bill that tasks the Colorado water institute at
Colorado State University with studying the potential implementation of
blockchain to manage a database of water rights.

Popular crypto publication Cointelegraph reported in
February that two blockchain related bills had been passed in US state of
Wyoming. Both Bills, one pertaining to the tokenization of assets and other
relating to depositories serving blockchain businesses- and another introduced
in January this year and will come into effect later in 2019.

The state of Colorado has easily been one of the most receptive states towards the Blockchain and cryptocurrencies in the United States. In a February 27 event the Colorado governor declared that Colorado was open for blockchain business. Polis just secured the gubernatorial seat a few months ago, but he’s been no stranger to crypto.

He being the first congressman to accept Bitcoin during his campaign explains why the state of Colorado is so crypto friendly. Colorado and Wyoming are some of the states that have taken the lead when it comes to championing for and supporting the Blockchain and crypto technologies.